Ducks not about to let losing settle in

ANAHEIM -- With their impressive 16-0-3 start, the Chicago Blackhawks have yet to experience the feeling of losing a game in regulation.

It has allowed the Blackhawks to break the Ducks' 2006-07 NHL record of 16 games to start a season with at least one point. But they aren't the only team to not allow losing to settle in.

The Ducks responded to Monday's loss to the Kings by routing the Nashville Predators, 5-1, on Wednesday night. They've now gone 18 games without losing twice in a row.

It is an important statistic to them and the Ducks showed that by jumping all over the Predators from the start, building a 3-0 lead after one period and never trailing.

"We turned the page," Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf said. "That’s what you have to do. In this league and in this short a season, if you can resist from losing two in a row, it changes a lot of things.

"That was our mentality going in tonight, never to lose two. We were able to accomplish that tonight."

Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau likes that the Blackhawks have drawn the majority of the national headlines while his team continues to roll along.

"We're like groundhogs," Boudreau said. "We're so far under the radar. That's good. We just want to do what we do and get better as the season progresses and hopefully that culminates in making the playoffs and going as far as we can."

Kyle Palmieri's first career hat trick powered them but their mindset Wednesday was personified when Emerson Etem raced down on a forecheck to steal the puck away from Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne and set Nick Bonino up with a goal into a vacated net.

"Bruce kind of stressed that good teams lose games but the really good teams won't lose two in a row," Bonino said. "Won't let themselves go down that road. We just wanted to come out hard.

"We've had pretty bad starts lately. It's always nice when one pops to you in the hashmarks and an open net to get it going."

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